Carissa turned to Cregan. “She stays with me.”
He laughed. “You don’t trust me.”
“Not the least,” she said bluntly, “though I also don’t believe you a fool. If you kill the mother of the laird of the clan Sinclare, they will hunt you until their dying day.”
“True enough,” he agreed, “which is why she will be released soon enough. After all, it is only you I want.”
“You can’t have me. I am promised to another.”
Cregan laughed again. “I think not. Your father promised you to me.”
“Then why didn’t you come for me sooner?”
“You were not easy to find,” he admitted. “It took the man who claimed to love you two years finally to track you down. I have no love for you, only the desire to mate with a woman born of Mordrac. And watching you handle my man, I can see that you are your father’s daughter.”
“I am not like my father,” Carissa argued.
“You are more like him than you know,” Cregan said. “Now it is time for us to leave.”
“You need Addie no more, let her go,” Carissa demanded.
“In time,” Cregan said. “And, while I admire your courage, do not think to dictate to me, for I will teach you your place fast enough.”
Carissa laughed in his face. “If you truly believe me Mordrac’s daughter, then you know that is not possible.”
“Mount,” Cregan shouted. “We leave now.”
Carissa helped Addie onto the horse.
“You won’t ride with her,” Cregan said.
She ignored him and mounted behind Addie.
Sully marched over to her and reached out to grab her. She kicked him hard in the chest with her booted foot and sent him sprawling to the ground.
“Have you learned nothing from dealing with her?” Cregan asked, shaking his head at the man.
Sully looked from Cregan to Carissa as if at a loss as to how to handle the situation.
“I ride with Addie,” Carissa said. “It will be no other way.”
“I could force—”
Carissa never let Cregan finish. “Do you truly wish to try?”
“As I’ve said.” Cregan smiled. “You are your father’s daughter.”
Ronan never saw anyone traverse the terrain with such familiarity as Piper. Though Evan was an excellent scout and tracker, Piper was beyond excellent. Evan agreed, and said so with evident pride in the woman he loved.
She stood only about four inches over five feet and had a thatch of wild red hair pinned haphazardly to the top of her head though several strands didn’t always remain secure, and she was slim and wiry. And her face always had a smudge of dirt somewhere on it that Evan took delight in removing for her. They were a perfect pair.
He was a good four inches taller than she and his long, pale brown hair forever appeared unkempt, though his face bore no signs of dirt. His brown eyes lit with love every time he looked upon Piper, as hers did when she looked upon him.
Watching them made Ronan fear all the more for Carissa’s safety though he knew she was far more capable of taking care of herself than his mother. Not that his mother wouldn’t try, it was just that Carissa had more experience in so many ways.
She would certainly show her abductors not an ounce of fear, and she would do whatever it took to escape. He knew without a shred of doubt that she would protect his mother, even with her life, and that frightened him. Not that he wished to trade his mother’s life for Carissa’s. He wanted them both alive. It was just that Carissa took chances others would not and, if she did, she might forfeit her life in an attempt to free them.
“They found the trail, though it won’t be an easy one to follow,” Dykar advised, riding up beside him. “It seems that someone is good at covering their tracks.”
“But we will be able to follow it?” Ronan asked concerned.
“It’s a challenge that Piper doesn’t intend to lose,” Dykar said, shaking his head. “That woman knows the woods as if they birthed her.”
“Thank the lord for that,” Ronan said.
“I know you’re worried about Rissa, but she can take care of herself.”
“That’s what worries me,” Ronan admitted.
“Don’t let it,” Dykar said. “I have seen her extract herself from situations I thought impossible.”
“There’s always that one time…”
Dykar nodded. “That one time was you. No matter how hard she tried to free you, you kept coming back. And I believed that she hoped you would.”
“I don’t give up easily.”
“For her, I’m glad you didn’t,” Dykar said. “Rissa needs and deserves someone to truly love her, someone to finally free her of Mordrac.”